Axle and wheel mounting for industrial trucks



C. E. COCHRAN May 20, 1941.

A AXLE AND WHEEL MOUNTING FOR INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS Filed Dec. 16, 1938 5Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1941- c. E. COCHRAN 2,242,454 AXLE AND WHEEL MOUNTING,FOR INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS Filed Dec. 1a, 1958 ,s Sheets-Shet s III I mvmronBY (A rpE E. COCHEfl/Y WORNEYQ? ,whereby the load-carrying and liftingcapacity source of power within the housing l0, usually the tires aresubjected to considerable wear when 20 wardly to afford a connection forthe pivot pin I4.

' struction,= which will-function to distribute the 35 member l3, thepin M has the sleeve 26 slipped ing construction, which will permitpairs of N wheels to follow irregularities in pavements, 40 silientsleeve 21 is then slipped ontothe pin and Patented May 20, 19 41 I CAXLE AND WHEEL MOUNTING FOR mnusrnmn muons Clyde E. Cochran, Cleveland,Ohio, assignor to The Elwell-Parker Electric Company, Cleveland, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application December 16, 1938, Serial No. 246,139

13 Claims. (Cl. 280-95) This invention is directed to improvements infragmentary, cross-sectional view taken through industrial trucks, andmore particularly to axle the axle and chassis connection .of the truck,and wheel mounting structures therefor. substantially along the line 4-4of Fig. 3; Figs.

One of the usual requirements of an industrial 5 and 6 show amodification. truck construction is that the chassis of the truck 5Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the truck structure be constructedto be disposed as low as is illustrated as comprising an uprightmechapossible, thus bringing about the necessity of nism '6 mounted onone end of the truck frame 1, using wheels of comparatively smalldiameter. adjacent a pair of forward non-dirigible wheels The wheels areequipped with solidrubber tires 8. The upright 6 comprises a slide for aloadand it is not infrequent that it becomes necessary 1 n in rr e pp ndf he truck I to resort to the use of multiple tire arrangements, beingprovided with a counter-weight 9, and a of'the truck can be increased.It is necessary, in comprises a storage battery for powering a motor.such arrangements, that the wheel mountings or Immediately beneath thehousing I0 is an axle the rim and tire mountings be relatively turnable,member I2, which is conne'ctedto a chassis memand an example of thelatter construction is disber l3 by a longitudinally extending pin l4.The closed in the Buckwalter Patent, No. 1,072,818, chassis member l3,Fig.4, is shaped to extend issued September 9th,.191'3. over the top ofthe axle member l2 and has two When such a wheel mounting is used,however, depending legs 16 and [1, which extend downthe truck is makinga sharp turn, due to the fact In'the particular axle-chassisconnectingmechthat the tires have a tendency to slide or skid anismshown, thedepending parts l6 and I1 of in a direction tangentially tothe curvature of the the chassis member l3 have the lower facesthereturn, thus causing an abrasive action upon the of properly shapedto be connected'to a cap memtires. Also, the steering difficulties wereinber 2|, by pairs of bolts 22 and 23, and interposed creased whenmultiple tires were used. between the pin l4 and the chassis member areOne of the objects of the present invention, resilient sleeves 26 and21, which are maintained therefore, is the provision of a multiple wheelin a compressed condition so that any relative mounting for anindustrial truck, which will rocking movement which takes place betweenthe eliminate all tendency of the tires to slide or skid 30 axle l2 andthe pin l4 creates a torsional stress when the truck is being maneuveredthrough in the resilient sleevesii and 21. The comsharp turns. pressedcondition of the resilient sleeves" and A further object of the presentinventionis the 21 is brought about as follows: I provision of an axleand wheel mounting con-' When the axle is being attached to the chassistruck loadimiformly to the tires. thereon .to abut the pin head I411;The pin is A still further object of, the present invention then passedthrough a longitudinally, extending is the provision of an axle anddual-wheel mountbore formed in the axle to extend through the axlebosses I21: and I21) (see Fig. 3). The rewhereby no particular tire ofthe pairs of wheels the axle is then brought into engagement with willbecome unduly loaded. the depending portions I6 and I1 of the chassisOther objects of my invention will become apmember l3, whereupon theclamping cap 2| is parent from'the following description relating tosecured in position by cap bolts 22 and 23. -A the accompanyingdrawings, showing a preferred washer member b is then placed upon thepin form thereof. The essential characteristics are H to abut the end ofthe resilient sleeve 21 and a summarized in the claims. nut 30 isthenbrought into engagement with the In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a sideelevational threaded end of the pin to cause the sleeve memview of anindustrial truck of the tier-lift-type, bers 26 and 21 to be compressed,as indicated in embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged Fig. 3. Toprevent any relative turning movecross-sectional view, taken through thewheel ment between the pin 14 and the axle I2, I promountings and axlestructure of the truck subvide a set screw 32 and a lock nut 33therefor, the stantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a innerend of the set screw 32 engaging in a, suitplan view of the axle andwheel mounting strucable slot formed in the pin member l4. ture, shownpartly in cross-section, and Fig. 4 is a Mounted adjacent the outer endsof the axle not lost.

member l2 are spindle members 35, which are disposed to turn aboutvertical axes, the axle end being suitably shaped to receive upperandlower spindle-bearing mechanisms 38 and 31; respectively, and protectthe same from foreign matter.

The spindle members 35, as shown in Fig. 2, have the lower; part thereofyoke-shaped to provide outer and inner side arms 38 and 39, whichsupport the ends of wheel spindles 40. Mounted upon the wheel spindles40 is a dual-wheel arrangement or a pair of wheels 4|, each of which isprovided with bearing mountings 43 and 44, whereby each wheel H isrotatable relative to the other wheel, and the construction of thespindle mechanism 35 and depending arms 38 and 39 is such that the wheel4| is equi-distantly spaced the outer ends of thehub of the wheelmembers 4|.

To steer the pairs of wheels 4| I provide arms 50 and 5|. which may beexteriorly attached to the spindle members 35 (see Fig. 3), and whichare pivotally connected to yoke members 53-and 54, the latter beingadjustably connected to a tie rod 55. The remainder of the steeringmechanism, conventionally shown in Fig. 1, comprises a steering wheel 56connected to a suitable linkage mechanism indicated at 5"l,including.-alongitudinally extending steering link 58. The steerlink. 58 isconnected to one of the spindle members 35, as indicated at 59, in Fig.3. a

The modified form of the wheel mounting shown in Figs. 5 and 6illustrates the adaptability of the invention to the positioning of morethan one pair of wheels on a single caster mounting, all of the parts ofthe axle and steering construction being the same, as hereinbeforedescribed. As shown in cross-section in Fig. 5, a center wheel 65 ismounted upon hearing mechanisms 65 and 61, which are supported by thenon-rotatable wheel spindles 68. On each side of the central wheels asare wheels 10 and H, likewise mounted wheel members 65, I0 and H, whilethe advantages of steering and sharper turning radii are The foregoingdescribed axle and wheel mounting has been found to be highlysatisfactory, particularly when the loads on.;the truck are rela-'tively heavy on the counterweightedend of the truck, and it has beenfou'nd that difficulties heretofore encountered-in the steering of dual-Monte the'fa'ct thaiidifliculty in "steering the bearings which canbecompletely housed d readiiy'protected from'dirt and'g-rit. i 75 axis,three. independently rotatable wheels sup-J operating parts can beprovided with pre-.

I claim:

1. In anindustrial truck, the combination of a truck chassis, a rockableaxle, a pin means pivotally connecting the axle to the chassis wherebythe axle may rock about a longitudinally extending axis relative to thetruck frame, torsion means associated with the pivotal means tending tomaintain the axle stable relative to the chassis, dirigible spindlemembers mounted adjacent each end of the axle, a pair of wheelsconnected to- -members disposed centrally of said pairs of wheels andsteering mechanism connecting the spindle members, whereby said pairs ofwheels may be steered in unison about said vertical axes.

2. In an industrial truck, the combination of a truck chassis, arockable axle, torsion means 'pivotally connecting the axle to thechassis whereby the axle may rock upon. a-longitudinally extending axisrelative'to the truck frame, and be maintained normally level by saidtorsion means, dirigible spindle members mounted in hollow formationsadjacent the ends of the axle, a pair of independently rotatable wheelsconnected to each spindle member with the axes of each'spindle memberdisposed centrally of a pair of wheels and steering mechanism connectingthe spindle members, whereby said pairs of wheels may be steered inunison about said vertical axes.

3. In an industrial truck, the combination of a truck chassis, arockable axle, means pivotally connecting the axle to the chassiswhereby the axle may rock ,upon a longitudinally extending axis relativeto the truck frame, a torsion means disposed to react between the pivotmeans and the truck chassis, a dirigible spindle member mounted adjacenteach end of the axle-within hollow bearing housings formed on the axle,a pair of wheels connected to each spindle member with the axes of thespindle member disposed centrally of said pairs of wheels and steeringmechanism connecting the spindle .members, whereby said pairs of wheelsmay be steered in unison about said vertical axes.

4. In an industrial truck, the combination of a truck chassis, an axlemember rockably connected thereto, fork-shaped spindle members mountedadjacent the ends of the axle to be turnable about vertical axis, a pairof wheels connected to the spindle members to be independentlyrevoluble, about non-rotating wheel spindles carried by the spindlemembers, a steering rod connected to one of. the spindle members,steering mechanism connected to one of the fork portions'of a spindlemember, and a tie rod connecting the fork por tions of the spindlemembers whereby said pairs of wheels may be turned in unison about thesaid vertical axis, said wheel spindles carrying bearing membersadjacent the outer ends thereof and a pair of opposed inner bearingmembers of greater diameter than the outer bearing members and Iserving-to support said wheels;

5. In an industrial truck, a dirigibl eel mounting steerable about avertical axis, the lower end ;thereof being forked, an odd number ofindependently rotatable wheels supported by the forked end of saidmember with one 'of the wheels in the plane of said vertical axis, aspindle "member carried. bythe forked end of the dirigible spindlemember and two of said wheels being equi-distantly disposed on each sideof. the verported by the forked end of said member, two

of said wheels being equi-distantly disposed on each side of thevertical axis of said spindle member, a spindle member non-rotatablysupported by said forked end and supporting hearings on the last-namedspindle member for rotatably supporti g said wheels.

7. In an industrial truck, the combination of a chassis, an axle, meanspivotally connecting the axle to the chassis, whereby relative rockingmovement may take place between-the chassis and axle, said meanscomprising depending chassis members extending downwardly along theforward and rearward sides of the axle at the center thereof, a pinmember extending through said depending members and through the axle,

and means for prex/enting relative turning movement between the pin andaxle, resilient means interposed between the pin member and saiddepending parts of the chassis, and means on the pin member forcompressing the resilient means, whereby when the axle rocks relative tothe chassis, said resilient means is subjected to torsional stresses.

8. In an industrial truck, the combination of a chassis, an axle, meanspivotally connecting the axle to the chassis, said means comprisingdepending chassis parts extending downwardly along the forward andrearward sides of the axle,

a pin member extending through said depending parts and through theaxle, and means for preventing relative turning movement between the pinand axle, resilient sleeves interposed betweenthe pin member and saiddepending parts of the chassis, and means associated with the pinmemchassis, said axle having bearing housings formed adjacent its ends,spindle members vertically supported in said housing portions of theaxle, said spindle members having downwardly extending fork formations,wheel spindles non-rotatably carried by'the fork formations, a pair ofwheels mounted upon each wheel spindle. with each wheel of each pair ofwheels equi-distantly spaced from the axis of the verticalspindle, andmeans for turning said vertical spindles in unison to thereby steer-the"wheels. saidsteering means being operative during relative rockingmovements between said axle and chassis.

10. In an industrial truck, the combination of a chassis, an axle, meanspivotally connecting the center of the axle to the chassis, said axlehaving bearing housings formed at its ends, spindle members verticallysupported in said housing portions of the axle and completely enclosedthereby. said spindle members having downwardly extending forkformations, wheel spindles non-rotatably carried by the fork formations,sets of bearing members can-led by the arranged to be operative duringrelative rocking movement between said axle and chassis.

11. In an industrial truck, a dirigible wheel mounting steerable about avertical axis, an odd number of independently rotatable wheels supportedby said member, two of said wheels being equi-distantlydisposed on eachside of the vertical axis of said spindle members and one of the wheelsbeing disposed within a plane extending through said vertical axis and asteering mechanism for turning the spindle member about said verticalaxis.

12. In an industrial truck, the combination with a truck chassis of atrailer axle pivotally connected to "the chassis to tilt about alongitudinally extending axis which is fixed relative to the'truckchassis, said axle comprising a unitary structure having spindle housingformations at each end thereof with an integral beam formation directlyconnecting the sides of the housing portions and the lower part of thebeam extending substantially horizontally inwardly from the lower partsof the housing portions, spindle mem-' bers vertically joumaled in thehousing portions of the axle, the spindle members having lower forkformations extending laterally beneath the,

lower horizontal portions of the axle and the fork portions of thespindles having steering arms connected thereto, a tie rod adjustablyconnected to said arms, a rocker pin supported by the chassis andserving to support the axle and extending through the axle structurebelow the tie rod and a pair of wheelscarried by each fork formation ofthe spindle members, each wheel being mounted to rotate independently ofthe other the housing portions of the axle, the spindle' members havinglower fork formations having provision for rigid connections forsteering arms,

steering arms connected thereto to extend outwardly at an angle relativeto a plane posing vertically and longitudinally through the spindlecenters, an adjustable tie rod connected to said arms, a rocker pinsupported by the chassis and fixed to the axle structure below the tierod and.- a pair of wheels carried by each fork formation of the spindlemembers, each wheel being mounted to rotate independently of the otherwheels.

CLYDE E. COCHRAH.

